This is good stuff.. you should try it.
Intercessory prayer is not the same as prayers for yourself, or for 'enlightenment', or for spiritual gifts, or for guidance, or any personal matter, or any glittering generality. Intercession is not just praying for someone else's needs. It is praying with the real hope and real intent that God would step in and act for the good of some specific other person(s) or other entity. It is trusting that God will act, even if it's not in the manner or timing we seek. God wants us to ask, even urgently. It is casting our weakness before God's strength, and (at its best) having a bit of God's passion burn in us.The Bible has many cases of people standing up for others before God. The most striking example is that of Abraham. He took the initiative to step forward before God on behalf of his neighbors in Sodom and its area. He cared enough to do it, even though he knew how thoroughly wicked Sodom was, and knew how furious God was about it (which explains why he was so careful in speaking to God about it). Moses also stepped in when God was angry, standing in the gap in the most literal sense : offering his own life for that of his nation. (Thankfully, God didn't take him up on the offer.) It was part of the role of a prophet not just to speak what God speaks, but to speak with God for the people of Israel. A fine example is the exchange between the prophet Habukkuk and God, where the prophet asks for God to act against injustice, but God replies about a coming doom.As they took their concerns to God, the key motivation behind these giants of faith was compassion. They loved the people, the culture, the faith with a love like God's love, and it burned in them so much that they dared to take on God on their behalf. Unlike the gods of the lore of most other lands, this God did not zap them with lightning or turn them into half-beasts. God listened to their cries -- not by ignoring the wrongdoings that got the divine wrath kindled in the first place, but by saving at least some of the people and bringing them back to where they belonged.The New Testament has its cases of intercessory prayer. Jesus was the prime example of an intercessor. He interceded in prayer that God bless and protect His followers. At the cross, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Indeed, His whole life, His whole reason for being born, was to be a living intercession, a giving of His life to span the rift caused by our rebellion against God. Stephen's last words were an intercession on behalf of those who were killing him. Paul prayed constantly for the struggling young church, for character, behavior, witness, and wisdom. It is Paul's regular prayer for the church and its people that sets the usual pattern for our own intercessory prayers.
Wanna Do it too??
The place where intercession must start is with you. It's great to know that others may be stepping up for someone before God, but God wants you to put something of yourself on the line. Otherwise, it's too cheap to be real. Your private devotions are not just for your own benefit. If God's love is at work in you, you will care about others, and your love for them will lead you to take it to the ultimate Source of strength, healing, and love. Don't be fearful; be persistent and stubborn. God doesn't mind; God likes to see divine love at work in you. God honors your part in the relationship. It is best to always be aware that you never really pray alone. For when the honest love in you for other people causes you to ask God to act to strengthen, heal, defend, change, or bless them, there is someone else praying with you : the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is leading you to pray. When your love is not whole or your mind is not clear, the Spirit steps in for you, to express the prayer and draw you into it. It's been the practice of Christian intercessors over the past two millenia that intercessory prayer is prayed in a 'Trinitarian' manner : to the Father, through the Son, and in and with the Holy Spirit. God isn't fussy about that pattern, but it helps us to see some part of how God works in prayer.The intercessory prayer that first comes to you about someone may not be what God wants you to pray for. For instance, you might be praying to lift a burden, but the Lord might be using the burden to prepare them to do something for God. Then again, your prayer might be what God wants to happen. Thus, we are to pray listening for the Spirit, and pray that God's will be done. I find myself concentrating better when I mutter the words; it gives my mind more focus. The mind may go off to explore something during personal devotions, but not while you're interceding for others -- those others must be your first concern. So, it's sometimes best to do it before you seek stillness (though God will sometimes lead you out of stillness into intercession -- be open to it).
Don't be surprised if the Spirit starts tugging on your heart to take some sort of action about a matter you're praying about. You may be the answer God sends into their lives. That's not a license to be a buttinski, stepping into everyone's private lives like some sort of conquering hero. But the Spirit might be calling you to be more than a bystander. Be ready for it. When you intercede, bring your knowledge, gifts, abilities, attention and energies before God and say, 'use these, if that's what it takes to set this right'.
In conclusion...
We should follow the example of Jesus, who prayed on Thursday that He not have to go through what He was to go through that Friday. He prayed, "Not my will, but Thine". In praying that, He was not resigning Himself to death. He was praying with the confidence that whatever was needed to happen would and should and must happen, and though that apparently meant death, so be it. Jesus taught His disciples to pray that God's purposes be fulfilled everywhere, right here on earth, not just in the hereafter. Praying 'thy will be done' is not the same thing as praying with doubt. It is the act of putting your trust in Whom it belongs. God has something more in store for you -- that is why you get to breathe your next breath. When you step forward in faith, you can stand in that confidence, whatever happens with your specific prayer.
I am thankful for friends. I am ready to do what God wants me to do. I am ready to say "Yes, Lord" and get back into shape with the best fitness instructor, Jesus Christ. I am tired of being of afraid of what is going to happen next. I am tired of searching. I am ready to give everything up, if needed be. My music, my friends, my job, my family.. everything.. if that is what it takes to be the Christian that I need to be.
The word, Christian, means to be a "follower of Jesus Christ". It is also known to mean, "Christ-like".
To those who call yourselves a "Christian":
Are you striving to be the most Christ-like that you can be? Are you giving up and giving in? Or are YOU giving HIM all that you've got? I am just curious to know.. are you practicing intercessory prayer? Are you putting aside your thoughts and feelings and wants/needs, and reaching out to God and the Holy Spirit to help a friend or someone that needs prayer? I mean.. I'm sure there is someone for everyone to be praying for. Can't you just imagine it? If everyone in this world that calls themself a "Chrisitian" were to pick someone.. just one person.. to pray for every time that they remembered... how much of a better place would this world be? Just think about it. I wanna know your thoughts!
let me know!
God, give me one shot and I’ll break right through I am starting to be brand new Rome is burning you can taste the embers I am walking hard on Spanish Stairs My Saint was silence rapping on the door Grown up defiant wanting so much more Me brand new, say (Starting over) Me brand new, say (Starting over) Me brand new, say I say Give me one shot at my life today One shot at my life today I don't want to be a stranger Walk with millions, a delicate few So sad how loneliness just follows you New York City streets and avenues Cut the concrete they march through Me brand new, say (Starting over) Me brand new, say (Starting over) Me brand new, say I say Give me one shot at my life today One shot at my life today I don't want to be a stranger I don't want to be just a passerby Stand in line wrapped around the world I don't want to be just a parasite Holding on tight Holding on tight I got this feeling and it's down in my bones I got this feeling and it's burning up my soul I got to get just one shot, baby one more day Got to give me one shot today I got this feeling just give me one day
A new song:
Hoping for daylight to follow me If your lost in the dark get to where you can see There is somewhere we're supposed to be And you know In a matter of time you set yourself free
♥ Jess